IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN A RAINY THURSDAY...

...but we were still smiling at the Community Fridge!  We just felt sorry for all the people who queue up outside from 9 o’clock when we don’t even open until 11 o’clock.  However, sadly we can’t let them in before that time because there is so much work to be done putting out all the stock we have. 

At the top you will see A., one of our newest volunteers, who wanted to come in and help on a regular basis because she had been helped when she had come along to the café.  She is very willing and very knowledgeable about catering, having been in the catering trade for some years.  Next to her is D. who calls herself a “Dizzy Blonde” and I think her description is probably quite right!  You can see, though, that they both had BIG smiles and D. was happy to pose for me as I called to her through the hatch.

I was pleased to see that after clearing out the basket for the Prayer books etc, it was still looking good, so I decided to show some of the posters we use as well as some of the books I give out if I feel they will be helpful to those who come into the café, and I did give several out today to customers who had been before and to a couple of new ones too.

At the bottom of my collage is V., who had been sorting out the money from the café when I snuck in and took a photograph and then asked if she would mind being in my Blip - of course, they all know what Blip is all about and more often than not, they agree.  

The last shot in my collage is a little dog whose name is “Oreo” - and this was given to me, or rather sent in for me, by the daughter of a lady who came in last week.  I had been talking to A. last week whose Mum had brought her in with her as it was half term.  She was telling me that she had lots of soft toys, so I told her about the Silly Saturday Gang, so she said that I could have one of hers to go with the Gang.  Of course, I was delighted and even more so today when her Mum, who had come out in the pouring rain, and was absolutely drenched, handed me little Oreo with a note from her daughter, who had brought it downstairs for her Mum to give to me.  The note said:

“Hi, I’m Oreo.  My favourite colour is blue.  
I hope I can be your friend.  
My birthday is May 21st 2019 (4 years old).  Love A x

Her Mum said she hadn’t reminded A. and was really pleased that she had remembered herself.  I’m sure that Oreo will soon be a “fully paid up member” of the Silly Saturday Gang and will enjoy having adventures with them.  So a special thank you to A for remembering.

A special “Thank You” too, to all those who were helping at the Community Fridge today - we were a bit short staffed, but we managed well and although we weren’t overwhelmed with customers in the café, we still had quite a few and more who came to the actual Community Fridge, but I think they were intent on getting home afterwards and out of the rain.

We did have a minor panic when one of the freezers “threw a wobbly” but managed to get things sorted, but it did involve quite a lot of moving things from one freezer to another, which was a bit tiresome, but again, everyone helped. 

Afterwards, I went to see K., another member of our Community Fridge Team who has been in hospital to have a knee replacement.  She is looking good and doing her exercises, she told me, so hopefully, it won’t be too long before she is back.  We do miss her! When I got home, I sat in my chair and promptly went to sleep for 2 hours - it’s a good job I can do that!  

Hope you all enjoy the rest of your week - and remember what it says on the posters:

“If you don’t have a prayer - help will do fine.”
And
“The power of prayer is in the quiet trust of gentle souls
     who are willing to pull away from the everyday
          to commune with God.”